Posted by hougansydney.com on Saturday, December 20, 2014 Under: Politic

Haiti's opposition continues to mobilize massive protests, throughout Haiti, of which many have been bloody, asking for the resignation of President Michel Martelly, despite the recent resignation of Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe in the hope of reaching a consensus to avoid Haiti's worst political crisis in over a decade.

The radical opposition refuses to even meet with the president for any discussion unless all their demands were met: The resignation of the President, and to expand the senate’s mandate beyond its terms in January 2015.

Martelly has been unable to pass the electoral law to facilitate the three years overdue election. The terms of all the senators, deputies and mayors will expire on January 12th 2015; this political vacuum automatically grants the president authority to rule the country completely by decree, in accordance with the Haitian Constitution.

After weeks of massive protests in various parts of the country, such as the capital city Port-au-Prince, and Haiti’s second largest city Cap-Haitian; Michel Martrelly decided then to put in place a commission of 11 members from the opposition, the private sector and others to advise him on a solution that would remedy the crisis.

A week later, all the commission’s members signed a list of recommendations that they thought would resolve the crisis. The most surprising of them was the call for Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe to resign, despite only 10 months left in office, as a gesture to show the opposition that the president is ready for constructive, broader perspective talks. The President accepted all the recommendations, saying that “no sacrifice was too great to make for Haiti and the Haitian people. “ The commission did not recommend the extension of the senate terms however, making it clear that President Martelly will most definitely start to rule the country by decree since it seems highly illogical to think that a consensus can be reach by January 12th 2015 under the current conditions; in less than a month, as the commission expected. They demand the president only uses a decree for the issuing of the electoral law in case an agreement cannot be reached by the beginning of the New Year.

As many expected, the resignation of the Prime Minister and his government didn't improve the political climate as many bigger, and more impressive protests continue to be held in key Haitian cities demanding the departure of President Michel Martelly and; the radical opposition refuses still to meet with the President.

The recent resignation of the Prime Minister seems to have instead empowered the call for the departure of Michel Martelly.